Searching for a science of origins

Text: Jaime Fernández, Photo: Alfredo Matilla Since the end of 2019, the Professor of Paleontology, Juan Luis Arsuaga, and the Professor of Astrophysics, Jesús Gallego, have been involved in a series of conferences (many of them online during the pandemic) in which they demand the need for a multidisciplinary discipline that investigates the origins of…

Teaching light pollution through citizen science

Citizen science engage students in meaningful science research that addresses real world issues and leads to scientific advancement.  We would like to invite school students to contribute to one particular project. We intend to generate awareness about the problem of light pollution in general, and the consequences of the global switch out of the older…

Clean room

Brand-new ISO7 clean room at LICA

These days has finished the installation of a brand-new ISO7 clean room at our LICA laboratory. The new facility will allow the manipulation and characterization of high-tech devices that need such level of cleaning. Specifically, LICA is now fully qualified for the work with scientific-level detectors, optical components, and complex instrumental setups. The LICA clean…

Evidence light pollution can be measured directly from space

Light pollution was believed could only be measured with photometers from the ground, but a new research published in Scientific Reports (Nature group) has proven that it is also detectable from space. Satellites detect diffused light in unlighted areas outside cities. Until now these detections were attributed to an instrumental effect but the study shows that this…

Citizen Science on Lockdown

As millions across the globe are having to self-isolate to prevent the spread of coronavirus astronomical observation activities are reduced to those we can carry out from our home with instrumentation we happen to have with us.  The lockdown is an exceptional opportunity to measure the effects of the decrease in human activity on the…